This is the first post in my new series: 15 Minute Focus, which is all activities for 4 year olds, designed to be done with a small group gathered around the table. I designed this to do all in one day, but it was too much to fit in, so I have split it into two days on this topic.

Objectives: children will be able to describe some ideas from the scientific method (how they asked a question, made a hypothesis / prediction and tested it.)

Day 1 – 20 – 25 minutes

Supplies: bowl of water (or in my setting, I start with an empty bowl and some water bottles so I can wait till the last minute to pour it, which makes spills a little less likely!), paper, crayons or colored pencils (not markers – they’ll get wet!), mystery bag to hide things in, several tester items (I took mine from a magnetic or not magnetic activity I already had – things like a foam letter, a metal key, a plastic animal, a cork, a sponge, a rock, a stick, a shell…), towel to cover (and to dry with!) Lyrics for Scientific Method song.

Talk about scientists and the scientific method. Sing first verse of song: “first we think up lots of questions” – ask if they have any questions about how things work (they might not). Then talk about how scientists observe with all their senses  – what does that mean? Sing that verse.

Sneak one item out from under your towel to hide in the mystery bag. Model how you’ll reach in, touch it, describe it without looking, then take it out. They all do this (note: if you have more than 6 or 7 kids, this might take too long – it was hard for them to wait their turn)

They all draw their item or other items. Talk about how scientists write things down to share ideas.

Explain that when we have a question, we can guess at what the answer is. The scientific word for an educated guess is hypothesis. Sing hypothesis verse.

Intro today’s question – will it sink or will it float?

Tell them we’ll test each of their items in the bowl of water. Tell them that for each item you want them to make a hypothesis and predict whether it will float (they show thumbs up if they think it will float) or sink (they show thumbs down). Sing “do an experiment” verse.

Then test their items one at a time., and write the results. (Note: It’s hard for them to wait their turn!) Show results, and sing “record results” verse.

If there is a lot of time remaining, you could read a book. If there’s a little time remaining, they’ll happily play sink and float with their items till time is done.

Then sing “hooray we learned something” verse.

Day 2 – 15+ minutes

Supplies: bowl of water; several glass stones or pennies or other collection of similar sized small items that will sink; a plastic dish / plate or styrofoam tray that will float, foil, towel

Sing “first we think up lots of questions”. Ask: “will a [penny] float?” Pass an item around so they can “observe with all their senses” (sing the verse as it passes). Ask them to make a hypothesis about whether it will sink or float. (sing hypothesis verse) Show that it sinks.

Then say “will this dish float?” Test their guess.

Then show them how if you put one [penny] in the dish it still floats! Ask them to predict how many [pennies] will float in the dish. Sing “do an experiment to test our guesses.”

Then test it. You can play around with ideas like if we put all the weights on one part of the dish it will capsize, but if we carefully distribute the weight, the dish will float longer.

If you still have time, you can make a boat with foil and see how many stones will float in it. Or read a book. At the end, sing “hooray we learned something.”

Books to go with this lesson: For Day 1, I like Scientists Ask Questions by Garrett, which introduces science tools and the scientific method, or for fiction with a lesson, I love Charlotte the Scientist Is Squished by Andros, which is an engaging story for age 3 – 6 and does a a nice job of reviewing the steps of the scientific method. Here is a YouTube read-aloud to preview it.

For Day 2, try Who Sank the Boat? by Allen. YouTube  One by one, a cow, a pig, a donkey, and a sheep climb into a boat. Will it sink? When will it sink? Or What Floats in a Moat? by Berry and Cordell. YouTube. This is not just a book about sinking and floating, it’s also a good book about inventors It’s a fun rollicking read-aloud. Archie the Goat wants to cross a moat. He muses that a barrel might float.

Find lots more sink or float experiments here.